


Marry My Daddy

by RebaK1tten



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, animal adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-07 03:05:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron's slow, so Jack has to take matters into his own hands.  Fluffy fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marry My Daddy

Aaron is comfortable with the usual routine; Spencer does the cooking and he does the baking.  This has worked for them and for Jack, who likes helping his Dad bake, but doesn’t think much of his limited cooking skills.  Spencer mostly makes recipes from an old “Cooking for Guys” cookbook that he brought when he moved in, letting Aaron and Jack pick out what they want to eat during the week.  Then he shops and comes home with a bag of groceries for their dinner, knowing what staples they have in the fridge or pantry.

When Spencer cooks, he follows the recipe precisely.  If there’s supposed to be six ounces of white onion cut in ¼ inch dice, there will be precisely six ounces and they will be in a ¼ inch dice.   Aaron was banished from the kitchen when he suggested that putting an extra two ounces of beef in a recipe would only make it better.  “It’s a recipe, Aaron.  They know what they’re doing.  More meat would throw off the spice balance, not to mention the solids-to-sauce ratio.”  Aaron’s suggestions are not welcome.

But when he’s baking, and the recipe allows it, Aaron likes to improvise a little.  It’s fun adding a few more chocolate chips or maybe walnuts instead of pecans.  Nothing earth shattering, but things that make the recipes theirs.   For today’s cookies, Jack wrinkles his nose at raisins, so Aaron grabs a bag of peanut butter chips and dumps in a cup, telling Jack, “Don’t tell Spencer we did this, he’d probably divorce me.”

Jack nods as though this is the most important thing he’s ever been told.  Aaron suddenly thinks of what he said and how Jack might take it.  He decides to just keep going and hope that maybe Jack didn’t notice.  As if.

“You would need to be married to get divorced, right?” Jack asks thoughtfully, stealing a stray chip off the table.

“Well, yes, Jack.  I was really just kidding.  Because you know that Spencer likes to follow recipes, right?  So he might be upset that we changed it.”

“Um hmm.”  Jack looks at him and smiles.  “But you guys could get married?  There’s a girl in my class who has two moms.  She said they got married and, um, Becca got to wear a long dress and carry flowers and eat cake.”

All Aaron was expecting was to make cookies, not have this conversation.  He and Spencer haven’t talked about anything close to marriage - just moving in together earlier this year was a dramatic (slightly traumatic) event.  Of course the team knew it was going to happen, as no one hides their personal life for long.  And other than having Spencer report directly to Dave, there have been no obvious changes at work, or at least none that Aaron is aware of.

“And if you got married, then we could get a cat.  Becca’s moms have three cats.  We could only get one, if you want.”  Jack grins at his Dad, looking like he’s a cat who swallowed the canary.

“Well, buddy, let’s do one thing at a time.  I think that having Spencer living here is a good start, isn’t it?” Aaron suggests and immediately sees the boy’s lower lip start to quiver.  “Besides,” he says quickly, “we don’t know how Spencer feels, right?  We don’t want to push him, do we?”

Aaron hears the door open and Spencer call out, “Hey, guys, sorry I’m late, but there was a long line at the bakery.  But I got hot croissants – almond for you, Aaron, and chocolate for me and Jack.”   He puts the pink bakery box on the table and turns towards the kitchen to put away the rest of the groceries in the bag.  “I’ll put on coffee, too.  Jack, do you want anything?”

“Yeah!” Jack shouts, “I want you and Dad to get married!”

“Oh.  Okay.  How long was I gone?” Spencer asks Aaron.  “Did you know about this?”

“I didn’t start it, but now that we’re discussing it, what do you think?”

Spencer looks from Aaron to Jack and back again.  Both are looking at him with curiosity.   “Umm, Aaron, kind of surprised here.  You know…I have a bit of a history.”

“So do I.”

“There’s my mother.”

“My father.”

“Work.”

“Agents have been married before,” Aaron points out.

“The team…” Spencer starts.

“Obviously, they already know.  It won’t change much for them.”

“AND A CAT!  Daddy, tell him about the cat,” Jack yells, having held his tongue as long as possible.

“Cat, Aaron?”

Aaron nods.  “Apparently, cats are required if there’s two moms or two dads.  You’re smart, I think you’d know that.”

“I missed that day’s lecture.” Spencer sits down at the kitchen table and studies Aaron carefully.  “You don’t think this is rushed?”

“Spencer, we’ve known each other for nearly nine years.  And you like cats, right?”

“True,” he says.  “I do love cats, more than I’ve ever loved any other animal.  And I’d love to be in a family with cats.  You think we’re ready for a cat?  Cats are a huge step, I intend to have only one cat in my life.”

“I would love to get a cat with you, Spencer.  I’ve been ready for a cat with you for a long time.  Only cat for the rest of my life.”  Aaron’s pleased with himself when Spencer smiles and looks away, blinking rapidly.

Jack looks between the two of them and asks, “I’m confused.  Are we getting a cat?  Are you getting married?”

“We can get a cat with just a couple of conditions,” Spencer says, looking at both of them.  “That means if we can agree to the following things, we get a cat.  First, we have to be sure it’s okay with Jess.  She’ll be responsible for the cat while we’re away and she’s part of the family, so she needs to approve, okay?”

Aaron nods and Jack yells, “Yes!  Auntie Jess will love our kitty!  Let’s go get him!”

“Not so fast, yet.  Aaron, you’ll need to tell Haley’s parents that…we’re getting a cat.”

Aaron raises an eyebrow and Jack asks, “Why?  They won’t take care of him.  We will or Aunt Jess will.  They don’t even live near us.”

“Well, they’re family so it’s the right thing to do,” Spencer says.  “They’re good grandparents and they should know.  That okay, Aaron?”

“Yes, you’re right of course.  They’ve been great and they shouldn’t find out about the cat from someone else,” Aaron nods again and reaches across the table to pat Spencer’s hand.

“And we’ll get the cat or kitten from an adoption agency or humane society or something.  Jack, if he’s your cat, you’ll have to take care of him and feed him and brush him and clean his litter box every day.”

Jack nods, wiggling in his chair, “Yes, I’ll do all that.  Why does he have a little box?”

“Litter box, buddy.  That’s a cat’s toilet and you get to clean it.”

Jack nods a little more slowly this time, his eyes huge.  “Okay.  Every day?”

“Um hmm,” Spencer says.  “Every day.  And the last thing is, we don’t name him something like Miss Fluffypants or something.  We all agree on a good name-name, okay?”

“Wow, little pushy with Jack’s cat, aren’t you?” Aaron stage whispers.  “Or is that code?”

“It’s okay, Daddy! Spencer knows good names, and maybe we can name him Worf if he’s a boy cat.  Can we go look for a kitty tomorrow?”  Jack asks, tugging on his father’s sweater, while making puppy-dog eyes.

“How about this weekend, that way we’ll have a couple of days at home with him or her.  Now go wash your hands, you’re sticky with cookies,” Aaron says and kisses Jack on the head as he rushes out of the room.

“Wow.”  Spencer picks up his cold croissant and tears off a piece.  “All I was hoping for today was to get to the grocery store and the dry cleaners.  Oh, your suits are in the front hall closet, by the way.  Now I find out I’m getting a cat and getting married.”

Aaron quietly studies him for a long minute, knowing he’s got on his profiler face that Spencer hates, but unable to stop himself.  “That’s it?  You seemed a little more anxious about the whole getting married thing earlier.  No longer an issue?”

“I guess not.  I’m here because I love you and our life together and I love Jack.  You wouldn’t trust your son to just anyone, I know that, so you love me.  Getting married is a little scary, so maybe we can we say that we’re engaged and then in six months do the actual go-to-city-hall thing?”

“You know he can’t wait six months for a cat,” Aaron replies, pulling the bakery box towards him. 

Spencer shrugs and pushes a cup of freshly made coffee towards his new fiancée.  “I know, we’ll go to the shelter on Saturday.  And you should call Haley’s parents before Jack blurts it out when he sees them.”

“I will.  And thank you, for all of this,” Aaron replies, smiling.

“Absolutely my pleasure, Aaron.” Spencer says.  “And by the way, those chips don’t belong in the cookies.”


End file.
